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A "Prevent" ban on extremist speakers at universities is "unlawful", the Court of Appeal has ruled.

The Government has been forced to partially revise its counter-terrorism strategy after senior judges decided that the guidance was not balanced and accurate enough.

Muslim campaigner Dr Salman Butt won a Court of Appeal challenge against part of the Prevent Duty Guidance, which states: "When deciding whether or not to host a particular speaker, RHEBs should consider carefully whether the views being expressed, or likely to be expressed, constitute extremist views that risk drawing people into terrorism or are shared by terrorist groups."

Master of the Rolls Sir Terence Etherton ruled that the guidance, issued under the Counter Terrorism and Security Act, was unlawful and should be quashed.

The judge said it was not "sufficiently balanced or accurate" to inform higher education institutions of their duty to ensure freedom of speech when deciding whether to host a speaker.

Sitting with Lady Justice Sharp and Lord Justice Irwin, Sir Terence said redrafting that part of the guidelines was a matter for the Government.

But the court dismissed a challenge by Dr Butt regarding the process by which information about "extremists" is collected, stored and used by the Extremist Analysis Unit (EAU).

In 2015, the 33-year-old from Slough, who is the chief editor of the website Islam21C, was named as being a "non-violent extremist" among a group of public speakers who expressed "views contrary to British values".

His name appeared in a No 10 press release on tackling extremism in universities and colleges that linked radicalisation in educational institutions to a number of high-profile terror plots.

Dr Butt claims he has suffered as a result of the press release - which is the subject of a separate defamation claim - and the guidance.

Sir Terence said: "He says he has received far fewer invitations to speak than he would have expected based on past trends, and that he has declined others in order to spare the inviting institutions the embarrassment of being associated with a 'hate speaker'."

Dr Butt said: "I brought this legal challenge because I believe that the Government should not be in the business of arbitrarily determining what is and is not a valid opinion or belief to hold and labelling anyone it does not like as extremist.

"I am not an extremist and never have been.

"The atmosphere in many universities has drastically changed over the last few years due to the chilling effect of this guidance on free speech, arising from overly broad government guidance to cancel events involving so-called 'extremists' - itself an overly broad term open to abuse.

"I am glad that as a result of today's judgment this will now stop, and that Muslim students in particular need not be afraid of inviting speakers and scholars previously smeared by Islamophobic organisations."

A Home Office spokeswoman said: "We are delighted that the court has agreed with us on the majority of the grounds in this case.

"Prevent is a vital part of our counter-terrorism work which safeguards vulnerable people from being drawn into terrorism, and since 2012, over 1,200 people have been successfully supported.

"We will consider the implications of the court's judgment relating to a single paragraph of Prevent duty guidance for universities."